Paul Broun in his office with leaders of the National Association for Gun Rights.

Rep. Paul Broun (R-Athens) is opposed to background checks to purchase guns, he said in a letter co-signed by Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX).

Convicted felons? Go for it. The mentally ill? Totally fine. The right of the violent, unstable people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

“The Second Amendment is the stronghold of our Constitutionally-protected freedoms,” said Reps. Broun and Stockman.  “As constitutional conservative Members of Congress, we have taken an oath to defend those rights from all infringements.  However, the push for universal background checks takes the right to bear arms, which should be protected by the government, and transforms it into a privilege granted by the government.  This is both unlawful and unacceptable."

“While our hearts go out to the victims of all violent gun crimes, we must not let the emotions of such tragedies dictate policy that will only affect law-abiding citizens. "

Only affect law-abiding citizens? So every single person who will have to submit to a background check will pass it? Literally no one will decide not to buy a gun because they know they can't pass the background check? Checks won't weed out anybody at all? Seriously?

Broun and Stockman asked House Speaker John Boehner to invoke the Hastert rule before bringing universal background checks—like those proposed by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA)—to the floor. The Hastert rule, named for former Speaker Denny Hastert, requires a majority of the majority Republican caucus to approve a bill before it allowing a vote, thus preventing Democrats from joining with a minority of Republicans to pass something.

Stockman, by the way, is the guy who wants to arm fetuses and thinks "the best thing about the Earth is if you poke holes in it, oil and gas come out."